Ordinary Boy
by Lucy Pryde
Summary: As she lies in St. Mungo's, incapacitated because of Voldie's cursed necklace in HBP, Katie Bell expects that nothing short of something extraordinary can make her happy again. Can one night, one broomstick and one ordinary boy prove her wrong? FredxKatie


**_Disclaimer:_ I do not own anything but the plot and sleeping pills, which are not working. I just finished this and it's 2:30 in the morning. But it's okay- all you need is Fred, right? Unfortunately, I don't have him, because he, and the rest of the people/places/things in this story belong to J.K. Rowling, nor do I own the song "Ordinary Day" by Vanessa Carlton, upon which this story is based.**

** You can listen to "Ordinary Day" by Vanessa Carlton on YouTube in a different tab at the same time you read the story, and it will give new dimension to it.  
**

Katie Bell sat in her hospital bed at St. Mungo's and idly wondered if she was dead yet. Why wonder if she was dead? Fred Weasley was standing in her hospital room, and for once in weeks, she felt no pain.

"Fred! What are you doing here? How did you get here? What in Merlin's name are you doing with Harry's Firebolt and your old Quidditch robes?" Fred's blue eyes twinkled, and as he brushed his chin-length, brilliant red hair from his freckled face, Katie couldn't help but think that her former teammate was strikingly handsome.

There was nothing out of the ordinary about Fred. He was a boy, so he naturally loved Quidditch. He had a mischievous streak, which was not uncommon in the Weasley family, although it seemed to have skipped Percy completely.

So why was this ordinary, everyday wizard standing at the foot of her hospital bed, grinning broadly and waggling his pale eyebrows?

"So nice to see you, too, Kates. Mum's fine, thanks for asking, and yes, the store is doing well."

Katie snorted. You can take the Weasley away from the joke shop, but you can't take the joke shop away from the Weasley.

"Just because dear old Voldie cursed me doesn't mean that I can't hex you right into the bed beside mine! It's empty, now, because I got angry at the last redhead who sneaked into my room at two thirty-five in the morning." When one is cooped up all day, one learns to develop skills such as sarcasm and irony.

"I don't think we're quite ready to move in yet, Miss Bell. What would Oliver say?" Katie snorted; their Quidditch captain always _had_ tried to control every miniscule aspect of his players' lives, with no success.

"Oh, I don't know, probably something along the lines of, 'Blimey, how could you have been so stupid? You get Imperiused and now we're out our best Chaser. You should be ashamed of yourself, Katie. I tell you, when I get a piece of that Dark Lord, I'm going to make Azkaban seem like a penalty for Snitchnip!'" She deepened her voice to imitate Oliver, and Fred laughed heartily.

"What are you waiting for? Get up; we don't have time to mess around!" Fred seemed entirely serious, and Katie looked at him like he'd grown a third head (his second head, George, was currently not present).

Before she knew it, his large, warm hand was in hers, dragging her out of bed impatiently.

"In case you haven't noticed, Weasley, I'm cursed."

"Really? So am I. Haven't had a decent game of chess since '92. Come on!" Katie could feel her muscles protesting, telling her that she hadn't used them in weeks. She voiced her thought.

"All the more reason to use them, love. Come on, keep hold of my hand." She smiled weakly at him, looking at her feet.

"I'm not dressed," she said, feeling warmth beneath her cheeks.

"Well, then, transfigure those atrocious hospital robes into something pretty." She felt her shoulders droop as she bit her lip.

"They took my wand, Fred. My magic's unstable. I can't even cast a Levitating Charm without it backfiring into the Cruciatus Curse on myself." She felt his hand tighten upon hers, and his other hand took two fingers and lifted her chin, aligning her eyes with his.

"Well, then, Miss Katie, I suppose I'll just have to do it for you. Pink or purple, love?" She smiled briefly at him, and then set her mouth in a serious line.

"Blue." With a chuckle, a mumble and a flick of his wand, Fred transfigured her hospital robes into simple, modest witch's robes. She grinned at him, feeling beautiful for the first time in what seemed like forever.

Fred, still holding her hand, summoned Harry's Firebolt from the corner of the room. He mounted the beautiful instrument of flight and told her to do the same. A flicker of indecision passed across her face, but a few words from Fred froze any second thoughts she had.

"Live while you can, Katie. With this war, we don't know when we'll go, but I'll bet all the Galleons I own that you'll regret not taking this chance if you don't. I know I'm no Harry Potter, but just trust me." And she did.

Jumping on behind him, she wrapped her arms around his waist was surprised to feel herself being shoved through a miniscule tube, or perhaps it was just the almost-forgotten feeling of Apparation.

When the darkness lifted, she saw that she was atop the Astronomy Tower, still clutching Fred Weasley for dear life as she rode a fantastic broom.

The feeling as they took off, swooping towards the Quidditch pitch at massive speeds with their hair trailing behind them (Fred's in Katie's face, although she didn't point it out) was like no other, and for a moment Katie forgot the feeling of the broom on her legs and simply felt like she was flying freely, with nobody to hold her to the earth. And nobody was, but Fred was holding her to the skies.

"Fred?" She asked, leaning forward to rest her head against his shoulder. She would never admit it to anyone, hardly herself, but Katie thought she'd been in love with Fred Weasley since third year.

"Yeah?"

"I'm really glad I came." He turned, his smile seeming almost brighter than the stars.

They were swooping, soaring, flying and defying the annoying force of gravity, but suddenly she didn't care. She didn't care if she was cursed, or if she'd spend the rest of her life in St. Mungos accompanied by fourteen cats. She only wanted that night, and that boy, to be hers forever.

As they rode on, she couldn't help but feel her eyes start to close, and as they did, she managed to mumble one last thing to Fred, which sounded suspiciously like "I love you, Fred Weasley."

Katie Bell lay in her bed at St. Mungo's, wishing she was dead already. Hey eyes had just opened to find that she was alone in her room, with white robes and not a trace of Fred Weasley in her room.

How did that _not_ happen? How could she have had such a stupidly perfect dream? It was what she'd wanted; her perfect reality had been cruelly dangled before her eyes and then snatched away at the last second.

"Miss Bell, there's someone here to see you." The Healer smiled at Katie, and she frowned back.

"Tell them to go away; I don't feel like seeing someone who is going to fuss over me and tell me that they're sorry that the Dark Prat somehow caught me in the crossfire of his war with Dumbledore."

"I don't think that he'll take no for an answer, Miss Bell." She paused. "He just wants a question answered, and then he swears he'll leave."

"Fine!" Katie looked straight ahead, determined not to glare at the Healer. She heard footsteps, and as she turned her head to see an ordinary wizard standing in her doorframe, Katie Bell couldn't have been happier. She stood on shaky legs and wobbled over to the door, where he was still standing.

"Come with me?" She asked, holding her hand out to him. He smiled a winning smile, took her hand and brought it to his lips.

"Always," he answered, pressing a tender kiss on the back of her hand and proving that a witch can love a perfectly ordinary boy and be the happiest woman alive.

**A/N: I would love if you would drop me a line and tell me what I need to work on/what you liked or disliked about my story. This is my first HP fanfiction, because I just read the books last fall. Anyway, happy trails to you, and may you, like Katie, find your perfect Weasley.**


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